Air Force Woman Could Be Convicted in Her Own Rape

[autorank]

What lunacy. A woman reports sexual assault by three male US Air Force cadets. She's grilled as though she's done something wrong. Then the Air Force charges her with "indecent acts." Oh, and those charged with the rape are given immunity to testify against the female cadet. Could the Humpty Dumpty charge have anything to do with the second section about sexual assault victims at the academy being treated poorly? Just asking.

Air Force Woman Could Be Convicted in Her Own Rape

"The process has almost been as painful as the rape."


USAF Academy Chapel http://tinyurl.com/2lr2lt">Creative Commons

Media Resources: Associated Press 8/7/07; KVUE 8/1/07

A woman airman in the US Air Force who was allegedly raped by three of her male counterparts is being charged with indecent acts, according to an AP report. If convicted, the woman could face a year in prison, a pay cut, a bad-conduct discharge, and would even be registered as a sex offender, the woman's defense lawyers told the AP.

Cassandra Hernandez, who was stationed with the Air Force in North Carolina, was allegedly assaulted six months ago while in another airman's room; she fled partially clothed, she said. After reporting the attack she received a medical examination, but declined to testify after she was allegedly interrogated by an Air Force defense attorney without her lawyer present. "The pressure of the judicial process was too much for me, and I felt like no one was looking out for my interests," Hernandez wrote to the AP. She was subsequently charged with one count of consuming alcohol as a minor (she admittedly was drinking the night in question) and one count of committing indecent acts.

The Air Force Public Affairs division said that its investigation did not find sufficient evidence to support the woman's claims of sexual assault, reported KVUE, a Houston television station. The accused men were granted immunity from the sexual assault charges for their testimony against Hernandez in the US Air Force's case against her, KVUE further reported.

=====================

http://www.religioustolerance.org/relintolafa.htm">Events at or about the Academy 2004-JUL to 2005-JUN:

=> 2004-JUL: Academy officials had invited Kristen Leslie -- a professor from Yale Divinity School -- and six Yale graduate students to come to Colorado Springs and observe how the staff chaplains minister to the cadets. Captain Morton and professor Leslie coauthored a two page report which was issued in 2004-JUL. On a positive note, the report complimented the chaplains for their "talent and enthusiasm." But it criticized "stridently evangelical themes" at a worship service for 600 new cadets. According to USA Today:

Leslie reported that an academy chaplain urged cadets to pray for those who didn't attend, to try to convert them and "remind them of the consequences ... those not 'born again will burn in the fires of Hell'." "When we saw this kind of predominant, pervasive evangelical conservative Christian message putting itself forward as pastoral care, we noted it," Leslie said in an interview." 4

Captain Morton allegedly claims that she was pressured to deny the story. Academy spokesman Johnny Whitaker told the Colorado Springs Gazette that several chaplains have denied that anyone said anything about burning "in the fires of Hell" at the service.

=> 2005-FEB: the Jewish War Veterans of the United States of America (JWV) issued a press release condemning "a series of recent anti-Semitic events at the U.S. Air Force Academy." They cited a number of incidences at the AFA:

=> Harassment of Jewish cadets;

=> A letter from one of the senior officers telling the cadets that they "are accountable first to God;"

=> A banner in the football team's locker room which said: "I am a Christian first and last...I am a member of Team Jesus Christ." 3

The veterans recommended that all of the U.S. military academies "adopt as part of their curricula courses in cultural, religious and ethnic diversity to fight bigotry and hatred."

=> 2005-MAR: A 2004 survey was conducted after allegations surfaced that female cadets had been sexually assaulted by other cadets. Write-in remarks on the survey resulted in at least 55 complaints, including reports of slurs experienced by non-Christians and preferential treatment given to "born-again" Christian cadets. The Academy then implemented a 50 minute religious tolerance program for both the cadets and staff -- 4,000 personnel in total. Over 90% of the cadets identify themselves with Christianity; this compares with about 75% for the U.S. as a whole. The survey found that half had heard religious slurs and jokes on campus. The training course is called RSVP for "Respecting the Spiritual Values of all People."

=> 2005-APR: There are three Academies in the U.S. Armed Forces: the Air Force Academy, West Point and the Naval Academy. Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, (AUSCS) said: "We've gotten 50 additional complaints since all of this started. Forty-nine are about the Air Force Academy. There's one about the Naval Academy, and none about West Point. You'd think that if this was a service-wide problem, we'd be hearing a little more across the board. But it's virtually all coming from one place, the Air Force Academy." He said the atmosphere there "becomes more poisoned" every day. 1

[Hydra]

1. K&R

Lovely "Justice" system we have. :sarcasm:

Anyone else feeling unprotected?

[autorank]

2. This is an Alberto Gonzales moment, beyond that, Alberto on Crack

They just had a big report on problems out there with female cadets being dismissed when they reported sexual assault.

This is pure stupidity and probably defiance.

[Hydra]

7. This is not even close to new

I've heard all sorts of stories from women in the service that never came forward...friends of mine.

Knowing this makes it easier to accept the reports of widespread rape and murderous rampages by our troops overseas.

Our soldiers are SO disciplined! :sarcasm: Either that, or this is official policy. :puke:

[Elspeth]

22. Remember all our female soldiers in Iraq not drinking water after 6 so that

they wouldn't be raped if they had to use the latrine at night. Some died dehydrated in the desert.

[Skittles]

50. when I was an Air Force airman a sergeant tried to paw me

I smashed him in the face with a huge stapler, breaking his nose and some teeth. The guy never bothered me again, proving they can indeed HELP THEMSELVES.

[crikkett]

3. This is normal for service academies

which is why I didn't report my rape.

[wicket]

5. I am so sorry

:hug:

[crikkett]

27. It's okay.

I'm over it in all the right ways.
:hug:

[WileEcoyote]

43. Here's my take:

Why bother joining the armed forces? They have been so badly discredited by the military industrial complex that the notion of "patriotic duty" is a grim jest.

That being so I more or less figure that anyone who joins the service is making a terrible mistake. Ever since Vietnam I've felt this way.

So when the big stir about "Don't ask don't tell" and the Tailhook sexual assaults came about I just said to myself:

"You can't trust these people in the Pentagon. They have become the enemy of the American people as well as the rest of the world. So under these circumstances the shit heads running the military would consider raping other soldiers just another day at the office".

Answer? Work for peace. Be an activist. Join the Sierra Club, Greenpeace the ACLU or anything that really helps the world.

[wicket]

4. sick SICK SICK

:grr: :grr: :grr:

[Fridays Child]

6. Giving this thread its fifth recommendation.

:kick:

[pop goes the weasel]

8. next step--honor killings - nt

[4nic8em]

9. Anyone who's been in the military

knows that the "status quo" of justice under the UCMJ is "guilty until proven guilty".

[hobbit709]

61. We used to say that UCMJ stood for

Uniform Code of MARSUPIAL Justice.

[Me.]

10. No Words

If they didn't do anything why do they need immunity?

[autorank]

52. Leave it to "Me" to ask the right question, Sherlock Holmes style.

Nice one Holmes;)

[gollygee]

11. ARRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH

I have no words.

[roguevalley]

12. sweet Jesus. What the HELL IS WRONG WITH AMERICA!?!?!

God bless you, honey.

[frylock]

13. with all due respect to current and former members of the AF..

this is one fucked up branch of the mil to be sure.

[Sparkly]

14. Outrageous!

:mad:

[Stinky The Clown]

15. The Air Force Academy is one seriously fucked up place

The True Believers Christians are way too powerful there ...... in the student body and in the faculty ranks.

[iverglas]

16. what, no stoning?

Oh no, that's right, it's only those Islamisticists who punish women for being sexually assaulted.

There's some absence of detail publicly available, but as to why the three male parties need immunity if they did nothing wrong, I would suspect it is because it kind of undeniably takes two, or in this case took four, to tango, even in the official version of events: committing indecent acts. Of course, that kind of does leave unanswered the question of how they decided which one of the four should be the one facing charges ...

[iverglas]

17. aargh, it told me it didn't post the first time ... deleted, nt

[Elspeth]

18. What can we DO about this?

Anything?

[autorank]

24. Send it to all our lists. Write Oprah and ask her to cover it. Send it to all the blogs

you visit. Send it to Congress, your Representatives, Senators, the White House. Call up your House member and tell him/her you don't want the same old lame excuses, do something. That's a start. Write your own article...go for it.

[Elspeth]

35. Can Congress actually do anything?

I like the idea of sending it to Olbermann and Oprah

[LostinVA]

59. Oprah is an excellent idea

[mod mom]

19. What a world we live in.

:(

[Triana]

20. The Ultimate in "Blame the Victim" Mentality

What's next, an "honor killing" where a bunch of men get to stone her death because some men raped her?

[Elspeth]

21. Yes, but what can we do?

?

[NashVegas]

23. Get It Out in the Blogosphere, YouTube, Etc.

That the Air Force is treating this woman the way Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran treat their women under religious laws.

[crikkett]

26. until the problem is solved i would suggest not sending your

daughter to a service academy.

Or your son either, it changes people.

[Elspeth]

34. Agreed.

But how can we actually stop this?

[crikkett]

70. Here's the solution. Have seperate dorms, or wings of dorms, for men and women.

Have separate watches, so that the boys guard the boys and the girls guard the girls.

When I attended USNA we were not allowed to lock our doors. There were rules about entering others' rooms, but they weren't followed by rapists.

Mine was the only girls' room in my wing.

The official line, when I was there, was that Officers had to live in mixed quarters, so midshipmen should too.

BS. For two big reasons.

1. It's wholly impractical and hurts students. The kids who are admitted to service academies are mentally and physically in top shape. For a 20-yo, a healthy body equals a healthy libido, and all those hormones in one place, in mixed company with no locked doors, spells trouble. It handicaps the students and it hurts the girls in more than one way: in addition to the distraction of all the boys, all day and all night, and all the scrutiny because you're only 1 in 12, there is ZERO chance to be feminine. None. Even the bulletin boards were all grey and bloody, depicting beach landings or bombing runs. Femininity was ridiculed as weak. The only "pretty" mural we could get away with was a sunset over a carrier.

2. Officers go home at night, if they're not onboard a ship. They get to lock their doors. They are older, more mature, and not so insane from hormones.

Thanks for listening.

C

[Elspeth]

96. Mixed quarters and no locked doors? Everyone should read your post.

Thank you.

[Ilsa]

68. Yes, a liberal mom sent her liberally- raised sons to a university with a strong

corps/rotc - type environment. The oldest came out spouting bs about women not belonging in the military. The second is okay so far -- he's in med school. I could tell it really bothered her that her oldest had changed so much.

[Annces]

25. It definitely makes you think you better hit back hard

when dealing with these kind of attacks. They have no consciences.

[ismnotwasm]

28. I just read about this

And I can't say I'm surprised or shocked. Pissed off, yes, outraged yes. But not surprised. I'm so glad my daughter is out of the military. And she was one hell of a good soldier. They keep trying to get her back, fucking recruiter assholes.
K&R

[Coexist]

29. and I'm sure the morning after pill was not made available to her

I am so disgusted.

[Alexander]

30. Absolutely disgusting, and a good reason not to join the AF Academy.

Non-Christians are pretty much second-class citizens here.

[gollygee]

31. If anyone here at DU gets a phone call from a recruiter

or if your children do, tell them you will never enlist, and say it's because the military can't be trusted to protect its people, and cite this case as evidence.

[GOPisEvil]

32. Minor correction: KVUE-TV is in Austin, not Houston.

However, the stories coming out of the USAFA get more disturbing with each revelation.

[fudge stripe cookays]

85. Ha!

Ya beat me! :D

[Jed Dilligan]

33. That chapel is the scariest thing I've ever seen.

It's made of missiles, of phalluses, of hate. It is the Temple of Our Death.

[Peregrine Took]

36. This is their unique way of getting even for having to accept females.

Personally, I would never want to go to one of these "male bastions."

[crikkett]

71. NO that's not it.

I don't know if you've ever been sequestered with 120 teenagers but it's the hormones, and the jackass standards of accountability, and the inability for administrators to imagine a different solution. That's all.

No conspiracy.

[Blue_Tires]

37. k+r

[ThomCat]

38. Where are the people who constantly claim

that women lie about being raped?

I'm surprised they aren't on this thread celebrating that a woman might end up in jail for having been raped. Isn't that what they want? Any woman who claims she was raped should end up in jail, right?
x(

I'm sick just thinking about what they're doing to Cassandra Hernandez. That is sick beyond belief. :cry:

The fact that the air force could even consider pursuing this shows the extent that women are still considered nothing but targets by many men.

[Retired AF Dem]

72. I will take the bait

and put on the flame suit. As an Army MP in the middle 70's I was assigned to guard an Army female that had been ganged raped by four Army guys. This took place at the old 97th General Hospital in Frankfurt Germany. While I was standing outside her hospital room I allowed a girlfriend of hers to enter the room. I over heard the "victim" and her girlfriend talking. The "victim" told her girl friend that she had been engaged in a more some when one of the guys made a comment that she was "easy" and that pissed her off and brought rape charges against the four of them. Also in Frankfurt we had a female Lt report that she had been raped outside of the officer's BAQ. We had the crime scene taped off and combing for evidence when another female Lt asked us what was going on. We told her and she stated that it was strange that a woman being raped would have her legs wrapped around his back as she witnessed from the window of her room. At Chanute AFB IL during my Air Force Security Police days we had a female training student (Chanute was a training base) reported being raped right as we were coming on a mid shift. We spent the entire night interviewing her, collecting evidence and even apprehended a guy that met the description she had given and we caught sneaking back into his dorm. We all felt great about it. The next morning one of my young Airman was in the parking lot of the crime scene when he observed another girl walking carrying clothes panties and a bra. He asked her who did the other clothes belong to? Turns out the victim and this girl (air force) entertained four Marines. The Victim felt guilty afterwords since she had a boyfriend and for whatever reason came up with a rape story. Some women do lie when it comes to being raped. Don't get me wrong I think all real rapists should have their penis cut off and stuffed down their mouth. When both of my boys joined the military I told them to stay away from military women even though I have been married to a military woman for 31 years now. :)

[On the Road]

78. The Facts May Have Been Ambiguous

and it may not have been clear that the allegations were true.

What I find it difficult to fathom is granting immunity to those accused.

Normally, immunity is granted for a lesser crime to get a conviction for a more serious crime. That principle is turned on its head here.

[glitch]

39. We've long since gone from Orwell or Huxley and are now deep into Kafka.

Help us now we're falling, this is Captain America calling...

[TahitiNut]

40. WRONG! There are FOUR (not 'three') Academies in the U.S. Armed Forces.

The Air Force Academy at Colorado Springs, the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, and the U.S. Coast Guard Academy at New London!

:grr:

[JohnLocke]

41. Actually there are five academies...

You forgot the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_military_academies

[TahitiNut]

42. No, I didn't forget. I don't regard them as an Academy for the Armed Forces - commissioning officers

Most graduates of the Merchant Marine Academy DO NOT enter a branch of the military upon graduation. They obtain jobs with shipping companies. While one might (accurately) contend that a ship's company is a para-military organization, they are not actively commissioned upon graduation (except in the reserves).

"Unlike the nation's other military academies, graduates of USMMA are required to fulfill their service obligation on their own by providing annual proof of employment in a wide variety of occupations as approved by MARAD for a specified period of time."

For that matter, the Citadel or Virginia Military Institute functions more as a Service Academy.

[provis99]

48. Merchant marine not a military service?

You know who had the highest casualty rates in World War II out of the five services? The Merchant Marine.

[TahitiNut]

67. Irrelevant.

Even under the Geneva Conventions, people engaged in merchant shipping are civilian non-combatants. :shrug:

http://www.icrc.org/ihl.nsf/COM/370-580017?OpenDocument

[hobbit709]

62. The Coast Guard is actually part of Treasury.

[TahitiNut]

65. It's irrelevant but the USCG is part of the Department of Homeland Security.

It hasn't been part of the Trasury Department for many years - and was under the Department of Transportation from 1967 to 2003.

Between 1917 and 1919, and between 1941 and 1945, the Coast Guard was under Navy Department control, not Treasury Department.

"The Coast Guard is that hard nucleus about which the Navy forms in time of war."

[Cobalt-60]

44. Well, ladies, here's a solution: Cut the Zoomies off

Speaking as a man who was once a young military man, I can assure you this will be felt.
With the possible exception of working prostitutes, I would recommend all women everywhere deny sex to all male Air Force officers until this situation is corrected.

[msedano]

45. rules & regs

what a terrible way to start a weekend. but recommended so folks will burn hotter still at outrageously stupid people with too much authority.

mvs

http://labloga.blogspot.com
http://readraza.com

[autorank]

54. msedano, Thanks for sending me this most important article to post here!

They just finished a series of investigations out there on this and other sensitive issues of cadet treatment and educational environmental conditions. Now this. It's like a big screw you from the academy. Looking at the prejudice against non fundamentalists documented in previous investigations, the is Hernandez Catholic and, if so, was she subject to the "holier than thou" treatment? And shes a Latina woman. What role did that play. If she's from Houston, that will generate a lot of big media attention and hopefully the story will spread wide and far.

Disgusting and, speaking as a father, it makes my blood boil.

[msedano]

64. boiled blood v. sangfroid

your point on the air force akademy is well-taken. it's the literal alma mater of the chain of command who approved this taste of evil.

[autorank]

93. I wonder if anything changed as a result of the reports and efforts?

Probably not. I'm disquieted by the fact that a religious faction has sought to take over the
Air Force. How strange is that?

[femrap]

46. Fucking American Taliban.

The only war that W is having any luck with is his War Against Women.

[onewholaughsatfools]

47. why would anyone join this mess

It just seems so strange that even the one's in the military just don't stop and say, fuck this i quit.....you have my support.....blessings

[jmowreader]

49. The gang-rape happened at Pope AFB, NC, not the Air Force Academy

All the whacked-out Christian Taliban shit is happening at the Academy (which is in Colorado Springs, the west coast's epicenter of American fundamentalism).

Pope AFB is its own brand of fucking weirdness.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

51. Up is down, black is white, gas is solid...

and the military males never cover their ass. When the nation's "leaders" exhibit behavior that continually lacks moral fiber, it is equivalent to licensing the rest of the government to abandon morality.

[autorank]

55. Isn't that the case. The victim is turned into a perpetrator, what b.s.!!!

They should be ashamed but they're perfectly comfortable with this type of denial so there's no point
in expecting any "act of contrition."

Where's Bush on this, oh, he's trying to remember when he started the Tillman cover up.

[Vidar]

53. Almost worthy of Saudi Arabia. Recommended. Thanks autorank.

[autorank]

56. Thanks Vidar. What a time it's become when that comparision

applies. Good grief!

[Vidar]

92. Some days it just doesn't pay to be right. Always good to hear from you, autorank.

[NoFederales]

57. Religion Poisons Everything

NoFederales

[shenmue]

58. What the hell is going on over there?

Are we just letting insane people into the service academies?

What happened to simple humanity and decency?

[tom_paine]

60. Imperial Amerika can be an ugly and cruel place

Like watching a painting be rubbed out, only to reveal another beneath, in this case a Bushian Heironymus Bosch painting, the decency that was Old America (not always and it never was perfect, before I am accused of idealizing the past) is stripped away as well.

And when it is fully finished, be it 10, 20 or 50 years from now, it will be leaving only:

[CanonRay]

63. I'd nevel let my daughter attend that school.

[Name removed]

66. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Ilsa]

69. Awww, boys will be boys...they can't help themselves...she shouldn't

have been dressed with that top button undone...she is too pretty and in good shape to be walking around in front of guys...we need those guys in the military, so we need to make them a deal-- let the bitch hang...

:sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm:

I had a friend who was manhandled/assaulted at two Tailhook Conventions. The first time, she was bigger than her would be rapist and grabbed the guy and slammed him into the wall and told him she'd tear his balls off if she saw around again. The second time it was just a quicky feel and the guy ran off to a pack of white uniforms before she could react. Sometimes I think the military needs a huge dose of something to diminish their testosterone levels. Or maybe public castrations to keep them in line. (More sarcasm, but as a recovered rape victim, can you blame me?)

[Danger Mouse]

73. Disgusting...the poor woman.

I hope that justice is visited upon the scum that raped her, and the scum that is trying to cover it up by accusing her.
I guess women are still second-class citizens, in the eyes of the Air Force.

[OzarkDem]

74. Paging Pat Schroeder...

I wish she were still on the House Armed Services Committee.

Then again, Rep. Marcy Kaptur is on the DoD Subcommittee for the House Appropriations Committee...

[tblue37]

75. My daughter considered going to the Air Force Academy.

She is a 4th-year med student and had considered joining the Air Force as a possible way to help pay for med school. She even spent part of one summer as a "temporary cadet" at the Air Force Academy in Colorado, to see how she liked it. She also wanted pilot training, which was another reason she considered the Air Force--that, and because my father and two of my brothers were in the Air Force.

But she finally decided that it was too much to give up 12 years of her life to the military just to get medical school apid for, especially after she took a military science course as an undergrad and was harassed constantly by the (obviously jealous) female who was her superior in her unit. It made her realize that in the military she could easily end up under the power of some asshole, and she would have no way to do anything about it.

I am so glad she managed to not go to the Academy. It really was a very close thing. Just thinking about the combination of sexual assaults and religious badgering she would have faced gives me shudders.

Whew! Dodged a bullet there!

[ooglymoogly]

76. The USAF is the religious rights private military force....

If there is a real "SEVEN DAYS IN MAY", and I'm betting there are several plans in the works it will come from the Air Force. Immunity is the best and most absolute defense to cover up acts of infamy and destroy the victim(s)and keep them from speaking out.

[Joe Chi Minh]

77. Spoilt brats, meet the ethos of the Pentagon, the soft underbelly of the US.

[knight_of_the_star]

79. This should NOT be handled by JAG for the prosecution

Sick someone from a DA's office or something like that, people who have to work on a higher standard and meet a higher bar than JAG prosecutors, and make DAMN sure its the rapists not the victims on trial here.

If someone tried this in civilian criminal court the judge would laugh off the charges on the spot assuming the Jury didn't grant and not guilty to be followed up by a fresh prosecution of the perps.

[Solon]

83. Do civilian courts even have jurisdiction?

I agree with you about JAG in general, it seems to me that all they are good for is minimizing the punishments for criminals, but I wonder if civilian courts can take over jurisdiction in the interests of justice.

[knight_of_the_star]

94. I doubt it

Unless you have the crime take place in a local DA's jurisdiction then it wouldn't happen, and all US military bases are considered under the jurisdiction of the US military. The big difference between the two really is the JAG is designed to keep order and discipline, the criminal justice system is designed to seek JUSTICE as best as possible and with the civilian system punishments are harsher and the bar is much higher.

[TransitJohn]

80. This woman's predicament is horrible.

But what does it have to do with the religious bigotry 2 thousand miles away at the Academy? :shrug:

[Solon]

81. Its systematic...

This isn't an isolated incident, and the fact that extreme religiosity is also endemic in the USAF academy may be related to the sexual assaults. As is typical in cultures fostering extremely conservative religious practices, those who are given second class status within those cultures(or subculture in this case) are the ones most victimized within those cultures.

[Madspirit]

82. k&r...n/t

[orleans]

84. ARRGGGHHHH!

:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

[booley]

86. The mysogyny is the least of the problem

First let me say that from my time in the navy, this story about this poor young woman is not in the least surprising.

But it's also part of a much bigger problem. The same problem that made the Navy lie about the USS Iowa blowing up and performign a witch hunt against the first women to serve on a ship (accusing them of being lesbains rather then investigate thier charges of harrasment). It's why the military downplays PTSD and Gulf War Syndrome and Depleted uranium, It's why they always seem to need to be forced to acknowledge and investigate when there are potential war crimes. It why there seem to be a whole host of abuses in the military and the people in charge seem to alway be more interested in covering it up then fixing the problem.

Simply put, the military , like so many institutions, is far more concerned with it's image then the harm it's people do. Any abuse or corruption or atrocity committed in it's name is not seen as a problem in and of itself but only in terms of how it plays out in the P.R. So if the rape victim can be said to be a drunken slut, that's a far easier thing to deal with then a rape, from a PR perspective.

As long as that is the case (and what's to make it otherwise?) then the abuses will continue.

[autorank]

87. Great analysis and conclusion.

It's more than the attitude toward women. The culture of cover ups serves the process of maintaining bigotry and maintaining any current power structure that might be held accountable for failure. Sounds like the White House.

[treestar]

88. There aren't enough details here

We have little or no idea what happened or what is alleged to have happened.

I wouldn't make up my mind here without hearing both sides. The article linked to clearly steers you on how to think without even giving many details.

[Deja Q]

90. For all we know, she was forcing the 3 men to watch her jingle herself...

:sarcasm:

The bad joke is over; in all seriousness I agree with your post 100%. :thumbsup:

[screembloodymurder]

89. She had a button missing on her uniform.

The tramp asked for it.

[plantwomyn]

91. Sept. 24 at Fort Bragg

The court martial is an open hearing. Maybe everyone near there needs to take a vacation day and support her. Couldn't hurt to have civilians to witness military "justice".

[BlooInBloo]

95. jesusfuckingchrist. We're just like Pakistan.